


Uncharted Waters

by NixieD



Category: Batman (Comics), DCU - Comicverse
Genre: Coming Out, Community: queer_fest, Mild Language, Multi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-06-03
Updated: 2013-06-03
Packaged: 2017-12-13 21:07:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,783
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/828900
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NixieD/pseuds/NixieD
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>All Robins, discovering which part of the queer spectrum they fall under.</p><p>Sometimes it was simple and they knew, sometimes it took a little fumbling to figure things out, but they’d eventually get there. Sometimes it wasn't about discovering, but accepting and admitting even if just to themselves.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Uncharted Waters

**Author's Note:**

> Mixing pre-52 and new 52 canon, also I am totally counting Steph as a robin. Also there are mentions of underage prostitution (Jason) so be forewarned. More at the end of the story.

**1\. Dick**

_“It’s your turn, Dick. Spin it.”_

_He grinned as he reached over and clasped the plastic bottle. They’d hidden themselves away in one of the empty music rooms, him and the rest of his drama group, and knowing they wouldn’t be disturbed, one of the girls had pulled out her drinks bottle and wiggled it. (“Anyone for spin the bottle?”). A little flick and the bottle went twirling once more. Slowing to settle on Mathew and shrieking laughter._

_“Pucker up Dickie boy!”_

_He drew Mathew in by his tie, planting a sloppy wet kiss on the pale boy’s lips, before turning to the others grinning. Not a hint of shame on his face._

 

“This behaviour simply isn’t acceptable, Mister Wayne.” He could hear the headmaster through the crack of the office door, a deliberate decision he knew.

“Just boys playing a prank. Surely it can’t be that bad?” Brucie drawled.

“We have an honour code. Mister Grayson violated it when he tried to proposition another student.”

“That doesn’t sound like him, are you sure?”

 

_It was lunch and he was tucked away with Felicity and Rosaline from his Chemistry class, hidden amongst the stacks in the library. “Covalent bonds are harder to break so you need to put in more energy, which would make the reaction…?”_

_The textbook was practically indecipherable, thick with text and few diagrams. “…Exothermic?” His head hurt from thinking too much._

_“Endothermic.” Felicity rolled her eyes as Rosaline leant over to guide him to the right section. “Exothermic reactions generate energy, from the Greek-“_

_“Meaning outside.”_

_“Yes.” Her smile made her dimples dig deeper into her cheeks._

_“This is boring.” Felicity slumped onto the desk briefly before bounding upwards. “I’m going outside, are you coming Rosa?”_

_“I’ll stay here.” Rosaline replied. “See you later?”_

_“Yeah.” And with that they were alone as Felicity disappeared in a whirl of skirt and sweater._

_Turning the page, Dick scowled at a dotted diagram. “So ionic bond breaking is exothermic.”_

_“No, breaking any bond is endothermic, forming them is exothermic.”_

_“Then are all the reactions neutral?”_

_“Some will be, you need to look at the bond we’re breaking and the one we’re forming. If the difference is positive they’re exo, if negative then they’ll be endo.”_

_“This is confusing.” Rosaline tugged the textbook away leaving him to just scowl at the grain of the desk._

_“Think of it this way.” Small hands tugged his chin to follow the direction of the textbook and then soft dry lips were pressing against his. It was simple but warmed low in his gut. “Exothermic reactions are favourable, so will happen again. Was that favourable, Dick?”_

_She left her hand resting against his neck and he could feel a slight flutter of his fingers, nerves running through them both. “Yeah.” The next kiss was wetter and pushed away the sensation of eyes on the back of his neck._

 

“I’m afraid I have to insist on the suspension. To fail to do so would send the message that we tolerate this kind of behaviour.”

“But a month, the boy’s a bag of hormones, I’m sure he meant no harm.”

“The other student was quite shaken by it all. We have to remove the disruptive influence, even if he is your ward.”

“Are you sure it wasn’t the teacher who found them that left the other boy ‘shaken’?”

That surprised Dick, Bruce sounded positively waspish.

“I can make it an expulsion.”

 

_His lips felt hot and plump from kissing Rosaline until the bell had run signalling the resumption of classes. Fortunately he had gym next so could burn off some of the twisting in his gut, a snare of something hanging around at a low burn._

_“Dickie boy, you look positively dopey.” Ashmore slung a muscled arm around his shoulder. “What have you been up to?”_

_He let his grin answer for him._

_Ashmore whistled low as he led him into the locker room. “Who’s the lucky girl?”_

_“Rosaline.” Ashmore’s snicker was filthy and distracted him from Mathew’s quiet entry._

_“Past due you getting a girlfriend, Dickie.” Ashmore unwound from him and began rooting through his locker._

_Mathew’s face twisted briefly with something as he slipped past them. “Perhaps you can set old Mathew up with one of her friends, it’s not normal not having a girl at our age.” The last part directly at the other boy._

 

Bruce barely paused as he strode out of the office, just a brief hesitation next to his chair before beckoning him to follow.

“I didn’t do it, you know that, right?” Bruce didn’t reply and it set his stomach to knots. “I didn’t force anyone.” Their steps echoed down the corridor out of the school, Alfred waiting at the side of one of Bruce’s many cars. “Bruce?”

“We’ll talk about this later, Dick.”

 

_“So you’re dating Rosaline then?” Mathew dropped down beside him as he rubbed a towel across his head._

_“I don’t know.” He slung the towel over the bench. “Maybe.”_

_“Why?”_

_“Why not? She likes me.” He yanked a vest on. “And she’s kisses…” The thought of more kisses made him grin._

_“That good, huh.” Mathew’s lips twisted and Dick laughed._

_“Nearly as good as you.” He slid the last button into place on his shirt and flicked the collar up to wrap his tie around._

_“Do you mean that?” There wasn’t a hint of a joke in the other boy’s voice and when he turned Mathew was off the bench and right next to his side._

_“Mathew-“_

_It was different from kissing Rosaline, from before. Instead of a laughing press of lips, this was desperate and poorly executed. But despite this it lit that same low warmth from before and with barely a thought he tugged Mathew closer. Feeling that same twisted from before as the other boy whimpered against his mouth._

_“What the hell’s going on here?”_

 

The door to Bruce’s office closed with a thump. “What happened at school, Dick?”

“Mr Cunningham saw me and Mathew kissing.” Bruce settled into one of the large leather chairs and gestured for him to do the same. “Mathew panicked and said some things.” ( _”Get off me you freak!”_ )

“Is this,” Bruce ran a hand down his tie, “I thought you like that girl, Rose.”

“Rosa, and I do.” He knee bounced with nerves. 

“Then why?”

“I don’t know, it was nice, it felt… nice.”

Bruce’s smile was tinged with weariness. “Nicer than Rosa?”

“No.” He stared down at the tight knot of his hands. “Same, but… different.”

“Okay.” Bruce’s hand wrapped around his. “It’s okay to feel that way.” He glanced back up at Bruce, his smile still weary but warm as well. “I won’t lie to you though, it’ll probably be easier for you if you stick to girls, at least until you’re out of school.”

“And if I don’t?”

“Then we’ll cross that bridge.” His eyes dropped back to Bruce’s hand over his. “But I promise you, I won’t leave you to deal with it alone.”

* * *

**2\. Jason**

Sometimes when he was feeling mean, he like to say it was just so he could screw over Dickie boy, the perfect son, by screwing the one guy he never got the guts up to try. Sometimes when Jason was feeling particularly vicious he liked to blame Bruce for him ending up like this. After all what boy wouldn’t turn out queer tussling with an older man all through puberty, no time for dating or girls, it had to twist a boy. But he never hated himself enough to ever suggest it was the guys he turned for tricks to keep his mother afloat when she dipped too far onto the needle. 

Never once did he enjoy what he had to do, and it was had to do, ten year old boys can’t do much else to support their mothers. But there was always a ready supply of filthy old men ready to take advantage of a young kid’s desperation. Luckily he got some cash in return for the humiliation and if they were too drunk to notice, well then it was just what they deserved when he lifted their wallet on the way out of the room.  
No, screwing guys so he could pay for food and rent didn’t make him gay, and being gay certainly didn’t make it easier. And if you even thought of suggesting such he’d have your little punk ass hanging off the top of Wayne Tower. He’d always been gay, but turning tricks and losing your family made a boy try to grasp onto some sense of normality.

Martha May was his first girlfriend after Wayne took him in, a posh bit of skirt who wanted to enrage her parents by dating the bit of rough Wayne adopted. They couldn’t kick up much of a fuss, couldn’t be seen to be slandering Brucie, but it was enough to make little Martha May tickled pink. So he kissed her and touched her, and when she wrapped her lips around him, he pretended that he wasn’t thinking of anything when he closed his eyes through it all.

The realisation he wouldn’t be able to keep lying came after trashing one of Two Faces hideaways. The crocks that could run had, only a few though, just enough to pass back to the boss to stay out of Gotham Docks. The rest he’d be left to tie up whilst Batman had swung off to see to an issue in Robinson Park, something about Tigers running loose.

Most of the working boys and girls had hightailed it out of there, Bats didn’t concern himself with getting them locked up, but the younger newer ones would probably find leaflets for the latest Wayne outreach pushed under their doors. One hung about to gawk, they’d had a few run-ins, the older boy seemed to have a knack for getting into trouble with one of the local gangs every few weeks.

“You guys ever take a night off?” It wasn’t a Gotham accent, more Midwestern, Dakota, north more likely than south. “Gotta have a life sometime.”

“Crooks don’t take a break.” He jabbed one of the cronies trying to squirm away in the kidney and quickly zip tied him to another heavier, less conscious one. “Got a feeling you’re not one for nights off either?”

“I was only partying tonight as a favour, daddy-o’s friendly request. Imagine my surprise when dirty dealing happened to go down.”

“Because these guys just reek of respectability.” A quick glance round located the nearest support beam and he grabbed the skinniest guy and began dragging him closer.

“Can’t trust anyone these days.” He watched as the guy moved away from the crates to meander closer. “Figure you deserve a thank you for all your trouble.” 

His hands spasmed and released the guy he’d been dragging as the other boy pulled him into a kiss, hand slipping down his tunic and lighting up a path. He gasped into the kiss and felt hot, his body tightening as the kiss turned dirty.

Shoving the other boy away, he grabbed and wrenched the unconscious man at his feet more than a little aggressively away towards the beam. “Don’t try that again.” He couldn’t keep the snarl from his voice. He pressed uncomfortably against his cup and it was humiliating, and ultimately frightening. Kissing Martha May had never felt as good as that.

* * *

**3\. Tim**

_“Maybe I’m not what you want. Maybe you’re gay.”_

Stephanie’s words stung, but maybe she had a point, every other guy seemed to be crawling over themselves to get a girlfriend and get as far as they could. And here he was with no interest to push things further. He enjoyed every kiss and had told himself the rest would follow, but after six long months of no urges, he had to admit that she might have a point. Which of course, meant research.

\- - -

“Hey little brother, what can- mmth!” Dick stumbled backwards onto his bed after he launched himself forward from the windowsill. It wasn’t as elegant as with Stephanie, but a little manoeuvring and he had Dick bracing himself with one arm whilst the other curled around his waist. Lips moving in a slow dance until he pulled away.

“Not that I’m complaining.” Dick looked slightly ruffled, hair tousled from Tim’s fingers. “But what brought that on?”

“A test.” It had done nothing. Kissing Stephanie made him feel happy, kissing Dick felt awkward and weird. “Sorry to bother you.” He’d have to think on this some more, and without pausing he was back out the window leaving Dick bemused on his bed.

\- - -

So kissing Dick hadn’t woken the latent homosexual in him, and if kissing a guy would, surely it’d be Dick? Kon had even gotten tongue-tied the first time he met him. So he was back where he started, maybe it was just something he had to go for, maybe pushing through sex would wake up that drive. Or maybe it wouldn’t…

This was depressing, thankfully Alfred made the best ice-cream sundaes, perfect for wallowing with.

“Perhaps if you told me what the problem was, Master Timothy, I might be able to help.” Alfred stood next to the sink, carefully washing the knife and spoons he’d used. “I suspect the ice-cream won’t give up its secrets no matter how much you scowl at it.”

Maybe it would if he used more of the hot fudge sauce. “It’s… complicated.”

The tea towel was dropped folded on the counter top as Alfred pulled out the stool opposite. “Might this have something to do with why Master Dick couldn’t make it to movie night?”

Tim sunk lower with a sigh. “Stephanie thinks I might be gay.”

“And was she correct?” He could see Alfred’s hands folded on the counter.

“No.”

“There are more than two options available.”

“I’m not interested in men.” He took a large scoop of the sundae and stared down at the marble under Alfred’s hands. “But there’s still a problem.”

“Ah.” The stool scratched against the floor as Alfred stood. “Might I make a suggestion?” He hummed as Alfred crossed to the fridge. “Whilst there are many flavours of ice-cream, there are also shades of flavour. Perhaps it’s a little more complicated than just liking one or the other.”

Embarrassing as it was, Alfred raised an interesting point. He was going to have to google the rest, anymore discussion and he’d be dying of embarrassment.

\- - -

AVEN was both comprehensive and _terrifying._

* * *

**4\. Stephanie**

Dating Tim was lovely, however it was also a constant source of frustration. Whilst Tim had promised he wouldn’t get jealous if she went elsewhere, it was difficult to trust that. And really, who could they trust to understand the situation they were in? Or more precisely, who could they trust that would be interested in return?

“You know what I mean, right Cass?” They’d perched on the roof of a local dinner after stopping in for two ice-creams. “It’s not like I’ve got men queuing up.”

Cass spared her an indulgent glance.

“I thought guys were supposed to be less complicated than this?” She kicked her feet against the bricks. “Maybe I should date girls? Then again, they’re not queuing up for someone experimenting.”

“Hmm.” The cone crunched under her teeth.

“Maybe I should just try; I mean Tim’s testing the waters, working out who he is.” Cass swallowed the last bit of her cone and began inspecting her fingers. “There was Samantha from track.” She watched as Cass drew her tongue along her thumb. “And Oracle is attractive in that scarily competent way, like Tim but more.” She felt herself flush as Cass dragged her tongue along her other fingers one by one. “And right now, definitely right now.”

That was a positively evil smile, and clearly Cass was never to be left alone in case she became an evil mastermind. In the meantime however, she dumped her ice-cream on the ledge behind her and twisted round to rest on her hip. “Is this… are you okay with me trying this?”

“Yes.” That smile was softer and Cass had callouses on her fingertips that scratched at her cheeks as she drew her closer. She tasted like caramel and soda and distant tangy tea. 

She dipped back with a giggle whilst Cass’s palm rested against her cheek. “That felt surprisingly right.”

* * *

**5\. Damian**

He smirked as a crony’s nose crunched under his boot, and twisted to send a bolo wrapping around the ankles of another. He was ten years old and too damn busy to give a damn about any of that dating nonsense.

**Author's Note:**

> Just in case it wasn't clear: Dick – bisexual, Jason – Gay, Tim – hetero-romantic asexual, Stephanie – bisexual, Damian – unknown


End file.
